Improved washing-machine



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEo IMPaovED WASHING-MACHINE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 40,360, dated October 20, 1863.

To all whom 25mn/y concern,.-

Be it known that I, HAsKELL PREBLE, of Machias, in the county of Washington and State of Maine, have invented a new and Improved Glothes-Washing Machine, and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a side sectional view of my invention, taken in the line x a', Fig 2; Fig. 2, a plan or top view of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the two figures.

To enable those skilled in the art to fully understand and construct my invention, I will proceed to describe it.

A represents a suds-box of quadrilateral form, and supported at a suitable height by legs a, or any suitable framing, and B is acylinder, the periphery of which is iiuted longitudinally, said cylinder being placed transversely in the sudsbox, and having its shaft a fitted in fixed bearings at the sides ofthe suds-box A. This cylinder B is at one end of the suds-box A, and the lower corner, b, of the latter adjoining the cylinder is rounded so as to conform to the curvature of the cylinder, as shown clearly in Fig. 1. The bottom o of the sudsbox A is slightly inclined, its lower or depressed part being underneath the cylinder B, as also shown clearly in Fig. 1.

C represents a serpentine pressure-board, the lower part, d, of which at its face side is of concave form, and the upper part, e, of convex form. This pressure-board is fluted longitudinally, and it is attached to a frame or carriage, D, which works on guides fj', attached to the inner surfaces of the sides ofthe suds-box. The frame or carriage D has a rod, E, attached to it by a joint, g, said rod passing through a mortise, h, in one end of the suds-box A, and connected tothe upper end of a lever, F, the latter passing' through a mortise, fi, in the rod E. The lever F has its fulcrum-pin j at the lower part of the sudsbox A, and to the fulcrum-pin there is attached another lever, G, which extends 11nderneath the suds-box A, and has a weight, H, suspended to it. The top of the suds-loox is provided with two lids, k lc', the former, k, being much the largest, and, when raised, a lmitting of the clothes being placed into the machine. The other lid, kf, when raised, facilitates the drying of the suds-box after the machine has be used.

The operation is as follows: The suds-box is supplied with a requisite quantity of suds, and the clothes to be washed are placed in proper quantity between the cylinder B and pressure-board C, the lid 7c being raised for such purpose. The cylinder B is then by means of a crank, I, turned back and forth a yfew times, about one-third of arevolution, and is then turned two or three complete revolu tions from left to right, which changes the position ofthe clothes and causes other parts of the same to be presented to the action of the cylinder and pressure-board. The reciprocating movement is then repeated, and so on, until the clothes are cleansed, the time being from two to six minutes. The clothes, it will be seen, during the operation is subjected to a combined squeezing and rubbing, which does not tear or injure the clothes in any Way. The pressure is given the clothes by means of the board G,which is acted upon through the medium of the weight H, and levers F G. The space between the board C and cylinder B may be graduated to suit the bulk or quantity of the clothes between() and B, by placing the upper end ofthe lever F farther forward or backward in the rod E, the latter being provided with a plurality of mortises t for such purpose. The forward movement ofthe pressure-board C is determined by the lever F bearing against the end of the suds-box. The sudsbox is provided with a gate, A', near its bottom for drawing off the suds.

I do not claim,broadly, a utedcylinderand concave, for they have been previously used and arranged in various ways; but,

Havingthus described myinvention, what I do claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement ofthe sliding carriage D, rod E, levers F G, and weight H, with the pressureboard C and cylinder B, in the man ner herein'shown and described.

HASKELL PREBLE. Witnesses IGNs. SAEGENT, MARSHALL THAXTER. 

